Downward Spiral
by KawaiiBoushi
Summary: With the anniversary of her parents' death approaching, Naoto asks Kanji to accompany her to visit them. It may never be easy, but maybe it doesn't have to be so hard.


It was just the two of them at lunch today, and without the presence of their lively friends, the roof was quieter than usual. Naoto was perched on one of the large vents finishing off her rice, and Kanji sat a few feet away, laying on his back with a box of animal crackers balanced on his chest. The sky was clear and blue, though clouds were gathering in the distance, and Kanji was enjoying the peace enough that he wasn't even stressed out about being in such close proximity to Naoto.

"Kanji-kun, where did you get your ears pierced?" she asked suddenly, setting aside her bento.

"Huh?" Kanji, digging around in his box absent-mindedly, sat up on his elbow to look at her and took a moment to process what she'd said. "Oh, these?" He fingered the metal decorations on his ears and laughed a little. "Actually, I, uh, did 'em all myself. Ma threw a fit 'cuz I got blood all over the place. Turned out all right though, and it didn't…well, okay, the first one hurt like hell, but then I realized you gotta numb it first, and it went okay after that. What, you thinkin' about gettin' yours done?"

"I've been considering it recently," Naoto confirmed with a nod.

"Didn't think you cared much for jewelry and stuff," Kanji commented, punctuating the statement with a crunch as he bit into a tiger.

"Not particularly," Naoto agreed, "but I own a pair of earrings that I would like to wear now that I'm out as a girl anyway."

"Hmm," Kanji said thoughtfully. "You're just full'a surprises."

Naoto looked vaguely amused as she wiped her hands and moved to throw away the trash from her lunch. Instead of returning to her seat, she leaned against the chain-link fence separating the roof from the rest of the world, staring over her shoulder in the direction of the train station. Kanji paused, penguin halfway to his mouth, before giving up and putting it back in the box. Maybe it was how she was standing, maybe it was the look on her face, or maybe it was the way the wind picked up and sent a chill down his spine, but something told him this was no time for animal crackers. Turning her attention back to Kanji, Naoto silently considered him for a moment before speaking.

"This weekend is the anniversary of my parents'…" She trailed off, twisting so that her back was to him, fingers gripping the metal loops of the fence. "I'm going to go visit them," she finally offered. Kanji nodded, understanding.

"Yeah. S'been a while since I went to see my dad. Prob'ly oughta, soon." He shifted his weight, debating with himself before adding, "If you, uh, need anything…like, you wanna talk…I been there, y'know?"

Naoto glanced back at Kanji, seeming to struggle with something. "Actually, would you…Grandpa's getting on in years, and I – I don't want to go alone." She looked away, up at the far-off storm.

"'Course," Kanji answered immediately. "Just say when, and I'll be there."

"I'm leaving Saturday after school for the estate, and returning on Sunday."

Kanji opened his mouth wordlessly. He felt like he had missed something extremely important. "You're – what?"

Naoto turned around, blinked, then shook her head. "Ah. Sorry, I should have explained. I was planning on heading home to visit my grandfather on Saturday since the Shirogane estate is on my way. I haven't seen him in over a year, and a round trip would be too much for one day's travel. I'm sorry," she repeated, frowning. "If you had other plans, or it's inconvenient, you don't have to come. It's fine."

"Uh, no, I just…I mean, that wouldn't be weird? Me, stayin' at your granddad's place?" Kanji felt stupid. Of course Naoto's family's grave wouldn't be in Inaba.

"It isn't as if there's no room for you there." Was that a trace of bitterness in her voice? "I just thought…like you said, you've been through this too, and I…" Light pink dusted Naoto's face and she tugged at her sleeve. "Well, I've…grown accustomed to having my friends around for support. But I could ask someone else. Or maybe dragging anyone along on such a depressing errand was a bad idea. I can go alone. I'll manage, I always do."

Kanji crossed his arms at that, mind made up. "Nuh-uh. I'm goin' with ya. I mean, if you really want me around. This stuff sucks alone."

Naoto still seemed unsure, but before she could change her mind, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. She lingered at the stairs as Kanji grabbed his box of crackers. "We'll only be gone one night, and it's likely to be cold and rainy, so pack accordingly. I'm taking the five o'clock train after school on Saturday. It's about an hour and a half to the estate, then another hour to the cemetery. We should be home by Sunday evening."

"All right." Kanji stood up and joined her at the door. "Sounds like a plan."

Naoto looked up at him cautiously. "And you're sure…?"

"Sure I'm sure," Kanji said firmly. "Can't back out now. Now c'mon, I can be late since no one cares, but you prob'ly got your attendance or whatever to worry about." He started down the stairwell, and after a few moments heard footsteps echoing his back to their classroom.

Kanji spent the rest of the week packing and unpacking his backpack – he probably didn't _need _so much yarn, or a sewing kit, but at the last minute it all ended up coming with him anyway – and giving evasive excuses for not being available over the upcoming weekend. He didn't have anything to hide, and the reason for the trip would be enough to wipe a teasing smirk off of anyone's face, but Kanji found himself not wanting to get into it. He almost felt like it would be an invasion of Naoto's privacy, that she was sharing something with him that it wasn't his place to drag out into the open. So when Saturday came and the final bell rang, he simply waved good-bye to his friends until Monday and headed home for his backpack.

"All right. Clothes? Check. Animal crackers? Check. Knitting supplies? Check." Kanji nodded in satisfaction. "Guess I'm good to go."

He spent the next hour wondering how early he could show up at the train station without it seeming weird, and finally ran out the door around four thirty. Making the fifteen minute walk in seven, Kanji paused near the soda machine to catch his breath. He scanned the platform for Naoto, only to conclude with a sigh that he was too early after all. Figuring he might as well grab a drink while he waited, he fished around for a hundred-yen coin to stick in the machine.

"Hello, Kanji-kun." The voice startled Kanji, causing him to fumble and drop his wallet, sending coins rolling down the street. He turned around to see Naoto watching them go, eyes wide in distress. "Oh, no – I'm sorry," she said, moving to retrieve the fallen money.

"S'nothin', just a few hundred yen," Kanji assured her, quickly scooping up what he could. When they straightened up, he stuffed all the coins but two in his pocket. "Uh. You – you want somethin'?"

Naoto shook her head. "I don't drink soda, but thank you." Her eyes slid past him to the clock over the station entrance. "I'm going to go buy my ticket. If you haven't already, you should too."

"Yeah. In a minute." When Naoto was out of range, Kanji leaned his head against the soda machine and groaned. "Off to a great start," he muttered, inserting his money and jabbing the TaP button. The drink clattered into the dispenser, and Kanji popped the top as he followed Naoto over to the kiosk.

It was four fifty by the time they had their tickets. Naoto sat on the bench with her bag at her feet, staring off at who-knows-what, apparently oblivious to Kanji self-consciously passing his drink between his hands, occasionally getting halfway to sitting down next to her, thinking better of it, and standing back up. Thankfully, the train rolled into the station promptly at five, and Kanji hurried on after Naoto, leaving their seat assignment up to her. She walked down a few aisles to where there were relatively few other people sitting nearby and claimed a window seat. Leaning against the glass, she pulled a book from her bag and flipped to the beginning, crossing her legs and trying to get comfortable.

"Whatcha readin'?" Kanji asked, sitting down across from her and setting his backpack on the seat next to him. Naoto glanced at him over the top of her book.

"Inspector Imanishi," she replied.

"Huh. Never heard of 'im."

Naoto made a vague noise of acknowledgement, attention already turned back to her reading. Kanji got the feeling any further attempts at conversation would earn him the same result, so he sighed and reached into his bag for knitting needles and a skein of yarn. He wasn't exactly expecting Naoto to talk his ear off, but she was the one who invited him along, so Kanji thought his company might have ranked at least a little higher than a book. He wanted to be there for her, but part of him wondered what he was even doing here.

It was true that since the start of the school year, he and Naoto had been spending more time together. Kanji liked to think it was because she actually enjoyed being with him and not just by default; their senpai were seniors now, and with Rise getting back into show-biz, the two of them found themselves alone more and more often. They'd slipped into a rhythm of walking home together, and Kanji had worked up the courage to ask Naoto to help him study when he needed it. He'd seen her grow more comfortable since she'd first joined the Team last year, and she even willingly engaged him in conversation and sought him out during lunch – but then there were moments like these, when he had no idea what was going on in that mind of hers, especially in regards to him.

"Kanji-kun?"

Lost in thought, Kanji barely registered Naoto was talking to him. "Yeah?"

"What are you making?"

Kanji blinked. Naoto was watching him with a mixture of interest and confusion, and her words reminded Kanji that he was still knitting. Furrowing his brow, he stared at the yarn in his lap. A dark blue rectangle a few inches wide trailed out onto the floor at least a yard. How long had he been on auto-pilot? A glance out the window told him they had long since left Inaba. "Uh. A scarf, I guess?"

Naoto raised an eyebrow. "You guess?"

"Well, not much else I could do with it now," Kanji mused, holding the length of yarn up. "Yeah, scarf it is."

Naoto looked at the scarf for another moment, then up at Kanji, and said, "That's quite impressive."

"What, that I completely spaced out like that?"

Naoto smiled wryly. "I was referring to your ability to knit so well even without paying attention. You're very skilled."

"Who, me?" Kanji shrugged. "Anyone can do this. I could show ya sometime."

Naoto nodded a little, looking thoughtful. "Maybe. Though I doubt I'd fare well at handicrafts."

"Nah, I mean, ya got nice hands." Naoto blinked, and Kanji flushed, realizing what he had said. "No, I meant – they're small, and – and you're probably real good at, like – all sorts of –" Naoto stared at him in confusion as he floundered. "Y-y'know what, forget it. Forget I said anything." Kanji ran his fingers through his hair and looked out the window at the clouds gathering in the distance, and when he glanced back Naoto was engrossed in her book once again. With her sitting right there, all he could do was close his eyes and slowly let out his breath in frustration.

_Nice hands. Small, real good at all sorts of things. Smooth. Idiot._

At least when they weren't talking, he couldn't embarrass himself too terribly. Kanji consoled himself with that thought as they passed the remaining hour of the trip in silence. Finally, when they rolled to a stop in a relatively quiet station, Naoto slipped a bookmark between the pages of her book and stood up. Kanji packed up his knitting and followed suit with a stretch, shouldering his backpack and following Naoto down the aisle and off the train.

They had arrived in a rural town near a small mountain, a little livelier than Inaba, the only contrast to the stereotypical country image a sleek black car sitting near the entrance to the station. Much to Kanji's surprise, when they left the platform Naoto began to stride confidently toward the car. As she approached, a man in a crisp suit and dark sunglasses stepped out of the driver's seat and bowed. "Good evening, Naoto-sama."

"Yakushiji-san," Naoto greeted him, "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, as well." Yakushiji inclined his head at Kanji. "Is this young man is the travelling companion you mentioned?"

"Yes. Yakushiji-san, this is Kanji Tatsumi, my friend from school," Naoto introduced him, and Kanji nodded, feeling stupidly happy to have Naoto refer to him as a friend. "Kanji-kun, Yakushiji-san has been in the service of the Shirogane family since long before I was born."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Yakushiji gestured to the car. "Now, Naoto-sama, shall we get going? Your grandfather is eager to see you."

"Yes, let's," Naoto agreed, and Yakushiji grabbed her bag and loaded it into the trunk of the car. Kanji allowed him to take his backpack as well, and when they were packed and ready, Naoto up front and Kanji in the back trying not to touch anything, Yakushiji started the car and pulled out of the station parking lot. He and Naoto passed the drive talking about the estate's state of affairs in the last year, while Kanji stared out the window at the town wondering where it could be hiding anything resembling an estate. As it turned out, it wasn't. Yakushiji turned onto a dirt road on the outskirts of town that led up the mountain, and after a fifteen-minute trek through the woods, the terrain leveled out and the trees began to thin until the Shirogane Estate finally came into view.

As they made their way slowly down the driveway, Kanji couldn't help but gape. He'd never seen such a big Western-style house. It had to be three stories tall, and the property stretched out for acres – plural _acres,_ right here in Japan. The driveway curved away from the main house slightly to a separate garage, and Kanji leaned back into his seat as they pulled in, shaking his head. _I am so out of my league here._ He heard someone clear their throat, and realized Yakushiji was holding the car door open for him, backpack in his free hand.

"Sorry, thanks," Kanji muttered, quickly retrieving his bag and climbing out of the car. Naoto had already gone ahead of him, and he followed her out of the garage and along a pathway to where a dignified old gentleman in a navy blue suit stood on the estate's front porch.

"Grandpa," Naoto called, breaking out into a run, and dropping her bag on the ground. Kanji stood back at a polite distance as she embraced the man.

"Oh, my little Naoto, I can't believe it's been a year already. I've missed you so." Her grandfather stepped back, taking Naoto by the shoulders and looking her up and down with a smile. "You've grown."

"Do you think so?" Naoto's eyes shone, and a smile tugged at her own lips.

"Of course – though you'll always be my little Naoto to me. Ah, and who's this?" Kanji realized the old man was looking at him now and stood up straight. "You mentioned you were inviting a friend along. Is he the young man who helped you solve my 'case?'"

"No, this is Kanji Tatsumi, another friend of mine. We worked together on the serial murder case in Inaba." It was impressive, in a weird kind of way, how casually she threw around phrases like 'serial murder,' Kanji thought.

"Hm, is that so?" The old man raised his eyebrows over his glasses and looked at Kanji searchingly. "Well, on my granddaughter's behalf, thank you for everything." He smiled at Kanji and inclined his head.

"Oh, uh, n-not at all," Kanji stammered, bowing deeply in return. "Nice to meet you, Shirogane-san. Thank you for havin' me."

"Likewise, Tatsumi-san. It's my pleasure," Naoto's grandfather replied. "Yakushiji will show you to your room, and dinner will be ready in a little while."

Yakushiji, who had been waiting a few feet away, gave Kanji a little bow and picked up his bag. "You'll be staying in one of the guest rooms. If you would follow me, I'll show you the way."

"Uh, thanks." Yakushiji led him up the porch, and as he opened the doors for them to enter the house, Kanji let out a low whistle. The front hall – what did they call it in a place like this, a foyer? – was at least twice as big as Kanji's living room, and the kind of giant spiral staircase you only saw in the movies led up to the second story. The furniture looked old as dirt, and yet somehow sparkling new at the same time. "Nice place ya got here," Kanji remarked, trying to take it all in.

"I'm glad you like it," Naoto's grandfather chuckled, and Kanji felt a twinge of embarrassment. He probably sounded so low-class. The old man had a pleasant smile, though, and seemed more amused than anything else. Kind of reminded him of his ma. "Naoto, your room is just as you left it. I trust you remember how to get there?"

"Yes, Grandpa. Thank you." Naoto walked slowly up the stairs ahead of Kanji and Yakushiji, hand on the railing as she looked back and forth. Kanji wondered what it was like growing up in a huge house like this, and what kind of memories were going through her head as they made their way down a long hallway lined with identical-looking wooden doors. Some time after he stopped counting them, Naoto came to a stop in front of one and put her hand on the knob.

"This is my room. Kanji-kun, once you've gotten settled in, I can show you around the house if you'd like."

"Sure, that'd be cool."

"I'll be ready in a minute. Well, then…" Naoto hesitated, then opened her door and ducked in so quickly Kanji almost didn't see the large Featherman poster tacked to the wall.

"Tatsumi-san, your room is just a little further."

"Right, yeah, let's go." Kanji shook his head, trying to clear it of the image of Naoto as the Blue Ranger. Yakushiji led him a short distance down the hall to the guest room and set his bag down next to the bed.

"Will you be able to find your way back from here?"

Kanji nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Very good." Yakushiji bowed once more and left Kanji alone in the bedroom. It was was sparsely but expensively decorated, and, just like the rest of the house, Western-style, with a four-post bed against one wall.

"Fancy," Kanji noted out loud. There wasn't much for him to do in the way of unpacking, so he left his backpack where it was and went back out into the hall. He retraced his path back to where he thought Naoto's room was and knocked.

"Naoto?" No answer. Maybe he had the wrong one? He rapped on the door again, and when he didn't hear anything, tried the knob. Unlocked. It wouldn't hurt just to peek in and check, right? But what if she was in there changing or something and just didn't hear him? Kanji turned a brilliant scarlet at the thought. He stood there debating with himself for a good thirty seconds before the door suddenly opened and he toppled face-first into the room.

"Kanji-kun?" Naoto's surprised voice came from somewhere above him. She was holding the door open, staring at him with one eyebrow arched. "Ah, what exactly are you doing?"

Kanji jumped to his feet, brushing off his jacket. "Uh – heh, um, just came to see if you were…" He trailed off, face still red, and looked around. He would have expected Naoto's room to be a no-nonsense place, with maybe a bookshelf and desk – he pictured a typewriter on it – and not much else in the way of décor. He was only half right. The desk held a laptop and there were three bookshelves, actually. Two were filled with books that looked extremely boring, and a smaller one in the corner housed a few DVDs and – was that manga? There was the Featherman poster he'd seen earlier, and a few others around the room had shiny cars and landmarks from faraway countries on them. A single pillow and a neatly-tucked in comforter laid on the bed, and on a shelf above the headboard sat an action figure and a framed picture of a happy-looking man and woman standing on either side of a smiling young girl.

Before Kanji could say anything else, Naoto silently shoved him out of the room and closed the door. She tugged her hat down and looked up at Kanji, crossing her arms and frowning. "So. You're ready to see the house?"

"Uh, yeah, gimme the tour," he said a little too enthusiastically, trying to relieve the awkwardness. Naoto nodded and headed back to the staircase, pausing at the landing.

"In all honesty, there's probably not much that would interest you," she mused. "Plenty of empty rooms, an attic full of junk…oh, I'd like to stop by the library, if you don't mind."

Kanji shrugged. "Sounds good." Thinking of the school's library, he groaned inwardly, but wasn't about to complain. He made a point of shortening his strides to stay not-quite-behind-but-not-quite-next-to Naoto as she led him downstairs and through another, shorter, hallway to a large set of double doors. With a soft grunt and a little effort, she shoved them open, revealing with a loud creak a library that would put their school to shame. Naoto paused at the threshold, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply.

"It smells wonderful, doesn't it," she murmured. Kanji, currently holding back a sneeze brought on by the musty aroma, was glad she didn't seem to expect an answer. Rubbing his nose, he followed her past enough shelves of books to impress even someone who stayed away from them as a general rule. In a back corner of the room stood an old-fashioned lamp next to a large, comfortable-looking armchair, and when they reached it Naoto slowly sank into it, running her hands over the cracked leather arms.

"This is where they used to read to me," she said quietly after a few moments. "Detective novels, historical fiction and non-fiction, even old case files. I was never one for fairy tales." Her fingers curled into fists. "Happy endings, tied with a neat little bow. Life isn't like that." Naoto sprang to her feet abruptly, shaking her head. "Anyway. Never mind. Let's move on."

Kanji nodded, watching her fingers trail down the armrest as she slowly moved away from the chair. "Where to?"

Glancing out the window, a glimmer of excitement lit up Naoto's eyes. "Outside." This time, she was the one working to keep her pace slow and steady as she retraced the path to the front door and circled around to the back of the house. Apparently unable to contain herself any longer, she broke out into a run at the porch, crossing the yard to where a towering oak tree stood. Kanji raced after her as she laid a hand on it for balance and stepped out of her shoes.

"I don't need the stepladder anymore," she muttered, and, much to Kanji's shock, grabbed a branch near her head and pulled herself up to stand on it. Naoto grinned down at him – actually _grinned!_ – and leaned against the trunk. "I pride myself on my tree-climbing skills," she boasted. "Race you up!" And with that, she was off.

"What the –" Kanji was dumbstruck, trying to make the connection between this Naoto and the tiny grown-up who lectured him on proper posture on a weekly basis. He managed to shake it off for the time being and, with much effort, heaved his body up onto the first branch. Kanji had never been one for climbing trees, and had to have a good 50 pounds more than Naoto to haul around, but he forced himself to keep going, cursing under his breath as he felt his leather jacket scuff. Naoto, on the other hand, seemed to be having fun.

Watching Naoto as she climbed was both fascinating and nerve-wracking. From her confident movements, Kanji guessed she had done this numerous times before, but he still winced every time she balanced on a spindly branch or made a leap of faith he felt was completely unnecessary. Finally, she reached a treehouse bolted into strong-looking branches and climbed into it with ease. Kanji pulled himself up after her and collapsed, worn out.

"You're…somethin' else, y'know that?" he panted, looking around. The fort was about six feet in any given direction, and a single decrepit lawn chair sat next to a table in the corner by a window. Underneath the table was a box full of miscellaneous tools and toys with Naoto's name painted on it in big letters.

"This was my secret base when I was younger," Naoto said, gazing fondly at the treehouse. Kanji had only ever seen such an unguarded, child-like expression on that face when her Shadow had calmed down and smiled. "I would play spy or detective, or bring books up to read. I think I camped out here once or twice. I never had any friends to join me, but…"

"Until now," Kanji pointed out, and Naoto looked at him in mild surprise.

"Until now," she repeated, as if the thought hadn't occurred to her. She began to remove items from the box and lay them out on the floor around her. A screwdriver with a magnifying glass on the other end, a backlit watch that flickered feebly when she pressed a button on the side, a dinged-up toy detective badge. She smiled a little, her eyes distant. Kanji picked up the screwdriver, turning it over in his hands.

"Y'know," he started hesitantly, "you seem…different since we got here. In a good way. N-not that you're usually – I mean…" Kanji nervously tapped the magnifying end of the screwdriver in his open palm. If Naoto took offense at his words, she didn't show it, only pausing in her rummaging to look thoughtful.

"Well, despite the nature of my visit, it is good to be home. It's been quite a while since I felt…" She pursed her lips. "Since I felt like I could let go of certain pretenses."

"That's good," Kanji said encouragingly. "S'good to let your hair down once in a while."

"Yes." Naoto stared at a broken matchbox car, idly trying to fit its fourth wheel back on as silence stretched out between them. Casting around for something to say, Kanji grabbed something that looked like a pocket knife from the small pile of trinkets and held it up.

"So, what's this one do?"

The corner of Naoto's mouth twitched and she took the knife from his hands, pointing it at the wall and flipping a switch that caused the blade to fly out and stick in the wood. Now that Kanji looked, there were several marks around it that were probably caused in the same way. He let out a low whistle. "Damn."

Naoto chuckled. "Between my penchant for tinkering with dangerous objects and how many times I fell out of this tree, it's a wonder I've lasted so long."

"You're one tough cookie," Kanji agreed. He continued questioning the inventions, and Naoto began to positively glow with pride as she explained each one. Spurred on by Kanji's interest, she recounted tales of cases she'd solved before coming to Inaba, and he couldn't help but grin as Naoto animatedly talked about death and Japan's legal system. Her excitement died down a little as she got to her decision to disguise her gender.

"I was surrounded by middle-aged men in my line of work, and female protagonists in detective novels are few and far between. I assumed that was the key to gaining respect, and though I noticed a slight difference in attitude, I was still looked down on for my age.

"Yeah, well, people'll look for any reason to tear ya down," Kanji said bitterly.

"They will," Naoto agreed, "but…you and the others accepted me without a second thought. And it may have taken unfortunate circumstances, but even Dojima-san began to take me seriously, which helped influence the rest of the force. I made my choice back then, after facing my Shadow. I won't hide any longer. It may be hard, but I'll earn respect as who I am, and show the world a woman can be as good a detective as any man."

Kanji flashed her a thumbs-up. "Someday they'll be writin' novels about _you_. An' they'll be so awesome, even I'll read 'em."

Naoto smiled, eyes warm, and Kanji couldn't help blushing a little. "Thank you, Kanji-kun." She stood up – much more comfortably than he was able to – and pried the blade of her knife from the wood. Carefully fitting it back in the handle, she leaned against the wall and glanced at Kanji. "Um. For –"

"Naoto-chan, are you in there? Does this thing still work?"

They both started, Naoto narrowly avoiding hitting her head on the roof. Kanji looked around for the source of the tinny voice, and Naoto gave a laugh under her breath. "Amazingly, yes," she said to no one in particular, crossing over to the other side of the treehouse where a radio was affixed to the wall. She leaned in close and pressed a button on it. "We're here, Grandpa."

"Ah, excellent. I just wanted to let you know that dinner is ready when you are."

Naoto nodded. "All right. Thank you. We'll be there in a few minutes."

"I'll see you inside. Over and out." Kanji recognized the wink in his voice. Naoto smiled fondly and lifted her finger from the button.

"I installed this with a little help from Yakushiji-san so that Grandpa wouldn't have to come all the way out here to check on me," she explained. "I can't believe it's working after all this time. Well, shall we head down now?"

Loud enough to cover the growling of his stomach, Kanji said, "Yeah, let's go." He climbed down ahead of Naoto – on the one hand, he liked to think he would catch her if she fell, but on the other, he knew if anyone was going to fall it would be him, so he didn't want to crash into her on his way down – and waited for her on the lowest branch, clutching onto one just above his head for dear life. Naoto paused when she reached him.

"Is something the matter?"

_Seein' you happy makes me happy too, I want you to smile more often, an' I dunno how to tell you that without soundin' weird. I wanna kiss you, but I know you don't wanna kiss me. An' I gotta be the most insensitive guy in the world, thinkin' about this now of all times, but it's all I ever think about anyway, an' I sure as hell can't say _that_ without soundin' weird. _Kanji scoffed."Nah, it's nothin'." She was staring at him with those eyes of hers, and he had to look away. "Let's just get inside before the food gets cold."


End file.
